Qualified Good News on Leino and Hudler

Detroit Red Wings news. The Wings were not able to hold onto Marian Hossa who went on to sign with the Blackhawks. Also going to Chicago is injuy prone Tomas Kopecky. There was a lot of promise in Kopecky but a couple of freak injuries never allowed him to prove his ice time. Also gone is Mikael
Samuelsson, who signed with Vancouver on a 3-year deal. I was hoping the Wings could find a way to keep him. During the playoffs, one could almost see Mikael's frustration, perhaps due largely to his lack off time on the ice.
My buddy Matt at On The Wings has some good and encouraging news of some of the other happenings in the Red Wings locker room.

On the Wings

According to Helene St. James, the Wings have Leino signed to a two-year contract very soon, possibly today. That’s great news if it pans out. The team needs Leino to stick around, obviously, and he needs the Wings to keep him since they probably offer his best chance at regular NHL ice time right now.

The Hudler news is a mix of good and bad: he’s apparently filing for arbitration this weekend. As George Malik points out, that means teams can no longer tender him offer sheets, which is a definite good thing. The downside, of course, is that the arbitrator can award Hudler a salary higher than the Wings might like to pay.

They could trade his rights at that point if they wanted to, but as long as it’s not too high, they’d probably bite the bullet and keep him. It just could be the difference between signing a veteran forward or bringing up a not-quite-ready Abdelkader.